ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Appointment of Specialists from Private Sector
Government has, from time to time, appointed some prominent persons for specific assignments in government, keeping in view their specialized knowledge and expertise in the domain area. NITI Aayog, in its three year Action Agenda, and the Sectoral Group of Secretaries  on Governance, in its report submitted in February, 2017, have recommended for induction of personnel in the middle and senior management level in the Government with the twin objectives of bringing in fresh talent as well as augment the availability of manpower. Based on this, it has been decided, in principle, to appoint outside experts to 40 positions at Deputy Secretary/Director level.
This information was provided by the Union Minister of State  Development of North-Eastern Region , MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
All India Radio to broadcast it's Annual Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture on October 31, the National Unity Day
Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting & Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur will deliver the address.
Broadcast will be available between 9.30-10pm across the entire network of All India Radio across the country.
Doordarshan News to telecast Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture between 10-10.30pm on Monday,October 31
All India Radio will broadcast the annual Edition of Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture tomorrow. Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting & Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur will deliver the address. It will be on air between 9.30-10pm on Monday, 31st October across the entire network of All India Radio. Listeners can tune into 100.1FM GOLD, 102.6 FM Rainbow , Primary Channels of All India Radio, airnewsalerts on Twitter, NewsOnAirOfficial YouTube Channel and NewsOnAir App to access the broadcast.
Doordarshan News will telecast Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture between 10-10.30pm on the same day.
Another Program titled, Sardar Patel- Rashtriya Ekta Ke Shilpi based on profile of Iron Man of India and excerpts from the previous editions of Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture will be broadcast between 4.30-5pm on the National Unity Day tomorrow.
About Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture:
Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture is organized by All lndia Radio in the
memory of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, a great visionary who had National cohesion uppermost in his mind. It has been an honoured tradition since 1955
and eminent personalities like C.Rajgopalachari, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Moraraji Desai, Dr.A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Jayant Narlikar, M.S.Swaminathan , Arun Jaitley, Ajit Doval and S.Jaishankar are among those who have delivered this
prestigious memorial lecture in the past on wide ranging subjects on India and its socio-economic strides.. The recording of the lecture, is broadcast across the entire network of All lndia Radio on 31st October, the occasion of the birth
anniversary of Sardar Patel, now known as the National Unity Day.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
The government has included 21 new disciplines for Central Government Jobs under sports quota: Shri Kiren Rijiju
The Government has included 21 new sports disciplines including ‘Mallakhamb’ and ‘Sepak Takraw’ in the list of sports disciplines which qualify for recruitment of meritorious sports persons to any post in Group 'C' in Ministries/Department of Government of India. The details of newly included sports disciplines are as under:
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Name of Sports Disciplines
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Name of Sports Disciplines
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Baseball
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Body-Building
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Cycle Polo
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Deaf Sports
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Fencing
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Kudo
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Mallakhamb
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Motor Sports
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Net Ball
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Para Sports 
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Pencak Silat
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Shooting Ball
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Roll Ball
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Rugby
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Sepak Takraw
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Soft Tennis
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Tenpin Bowling
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Triathlon
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Tug-of-war
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Wushu
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Tennis Ball Cricket
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This information was given by Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Shri Piyush Goyal asked bankers to ensure enhanced and affordable credit to MSMEs to achieve the target of 1 trillion dollar merchandise exports
Shri Goyal chairs a meeting of bankers on export credit to MSME exporters
Shri Piyush Goyal has asked the Indian banks to ensure enhanced and affordable credit to MSMEs to achieve the target of 1 trillion dollar merchandise exports. This was stated in a meeting called to discuss the issue of increasing the availability of export credit to the MSME exporters. The meeting was convened by the Department of Commerce in coordination with Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Limited, , in New Delhi yesterday. It was attended by the top officials of 21 banks which included State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Central Bank of India.
A presentation on ‘Export Credit and Export Credit Insurance for Banks ’ was made by CMD ECGC, Shri M. Senthilnathan. Based on ECGC’s experience under the scheme of enhanced cover, ECGC has now proposed further modifications to make available adequate and affordable credit to a larger section of MSME exporters. The product facilitates the borrower accounts to be treated equivalent to ‘AA’ rated account with reduced cost of export credit to the exporters.
In the meeting, Shri Piyush Goyal said that the ECGC can examine the extension of the scheme proposed for nine banks, to all the banks, so that the export credit offtake for the MSME Exporters can be increased.
Bankers suggested that ECGC should adopt claim processing method similar to Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises  for which Commerce and Industry Minister advised ECGC to follow a pattern on similar lines to compensate their loss.
The Minister advised the banks to take advantage of the proposed scheme and extend adequate and affordable export credit to MSME exporters. This would enable the country to achieve its target of USD 1 trillion merchandize exports by 2030. The Minister also advised ECGC to examine 75% claim payment to banks under the ECIB scheme, within 45 days of receiving the claim. It was further informed by the Minister that in the next four months, all the ECGC services would be digitized, so that physical interaction can be minimized.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Twenty four beneficiaries of the Farmer Producer Organisations scheme from Maharashtra to witness celebrations at the Red Fort on August 15
In line with the Government’s vision of ‘Jan Bhagidari’, people from all walks of life, across India to be part of the Independence Day celebrations
New Delhi/Mumbai : 10 August 2023
The Independence Day celebrations this year will be held at the Red Fort in New Delhi in the presence of Special Invitees from across the country who have been invited along with their spouses to the national capital to watch the Prime Minister unfurl the national and listen to his address to the nation. They include sarpanches of Vibrant Villages, teachers, nurses, farmers, fishermen, people working in flagship programmes such as Central Vista project, Amrit Sarovar, Har Ghar Jal and others.
Twenty four beneficiaries of the Farmer Producer Organisations  scheme, from the state of Maharashtra, will witness the Independence Day celebrations at the historic Red Fort, Delhi on August 15, 2023 as Special Guests. Two hundred and fifty  beneficiaries of the scheme, along with their spouses, are among around 1,800 persons who have been invited to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation from the Red Fort. The initiative to invite the people from various walks of life, across India, and be a part of the celebrations has been taken by the Government in line with its vision of ‘Jan Bhagidari’. During the visit, the special guests will get an opportunity to visit the National War Memorial and the Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya.
Lalsing Vanya Valvi, who hails from Dhadgaon , Nandurbar is excited and looking forward to visit the national capital and Red Fort for the first time and be part of the Independence Day events. He is delighted that the Government has recognized their FPO’s work and invited him for the Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi. His FPO, ‘Amu Akha Ek Se’, created with help from NABARD has developed organic mango, kokam, millets and turdal over an area of 200-300 acres. More than 150 families in his village are engaged in the FPO.
Another Special Invitee, Uttamrao Krishna Desai from Patan in Satara district, is the Chairman of FPO Patan Taluka Farmers Producers Company Ltd. His FPO has 300 members and has been established in April 2021. They are producing and selling high quality seeds including those of Indrayani rice to farmers. Moreover they are also planning to diversify and begin selling farm equipment and tractors at low prices to farmers.
Uttamrao Krishna Desai’s with FPO members
The concept behind Farmer Producer Organisations is that farmers, who are the producers of agricultural products, can form groups. To facilitate this process, the Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium was mandated by Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture to support the State Governments in the formation of Farmer Producer Organisations.
The role of FPO is to act as an aggregator for member farmers, including from inputs to output, which will enhance the economy of scale and bargaining power of member farmers.
Ministry of Cooperation
Industry-Academia Linkage for Cooperatives
Industry-academia linkages for the cooperative societies are ensured through continuous engagement of the sector experts and practitioners in the various training, awareness and other academic programs run by NCCT , an autonomous society under the Ministry of Cooperation.
The industry-academia linkage in training programs is built through an institutional mechanism of Program Advisory Committee  in the 19 regional and state level institutes of NCCT. PAC is headed by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies of the state concerned and other members of PAC include Chief Executives of State Cooperative Unions/Federations, Directors of Industries, Handlooms, Fisheries, Agriculture of the state concerned, industry sector experts, etc.
Further, seminars/webinars with industry/sector experts, lectures from practitioners, industry exposure visits and internships are also organized regularly to further strengthen industry- academic partnership in the cooperative sector.
NCCT in collaboration with NABARD, SOFTCOB Scheme  conducted 690 training programs between 2020-21 and 2022-23 for 20,955 participants, who are mainly farmers, to strengthen Primary Agriculture Credit Societies  and other primary cooperative societies. Besides, NCCT also conducted 2342 training/awareness programs between 2020-21and 2022-23 for 1,61,043 farmers in rural areas.
This was stated by the Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Home Affairs
Infiltration from Bangladesh
The Central Government has adopted a multi-pronged approach to ensure effective surveillance and domination of international borders to check infiltration of illegal migrants. Physical infrastructure like border fencing, floodlighting, construction of border roads and establishment of border outposts has been created. Vulnerable border outposts are regularly reviewed and strengthened by deploying additional manpower, special surveillance equipments and other force multipliers. A technological solution in the form of Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System  has been implemented in some vulnerable border areas.
Border guarding forces conduct regular patrolling, lay nakas and establish observation posts and carry out anti-tunnelling exercises to stop illegal infiltration. However, some illegal migrants are able to enter in a clandestine and surreptitious manner, mainly due to difficult riverine terrain in parts of the long international borders with Bangladesh. There is no accurate central data regarding exact number of such illegal immigrants and any demographic change in North Eastern states.
Ministry of Home Affairs has issued instructions to State Govts./UTs advising them to ensure that no Aadhaar card is issued to illegal migrants. State Governments have been further advised to cancel other state level identification documents fraudulently obtained by illegal migrants viz. voter card, driving license, ration card etc. and initiate deportation proceedings as per provisions of law. The States/UTs have also been advised to share with the UIDAI the particulars of those illegal migrants who have wrongfully obtained Aadhaar Cards for appropriate legal action.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri G. Kishan Reddy in a written reply to question in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Finance
In 15 States And UTS, Services Sector is the Dominant Sector, Contributing More than Half of the Gross State Value Added 
The Economic Survey 2017-18, tabled today in Parliament by the Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitely, presents a unique State-wise comparison of the performance of the Service sector in India.
Out of the 32 States and Union Territories , in 15 states and UTs, the Services Sector is the dominant sector, contributing more than half of the Gross State Value Added . The major services in most of the States are trade, hotels and restaurants, followed by real estate, ownership of dwellings and business services.
However, there is wide variation in terms of share and growth of services GSVA. Out of the 32 States and UTs for which data are available for 2016-17 , in terms of services GSVA share, Delhi and Chandigarh are at the top with over 80 per cent share, while Sikkim is at the bottom with 31.7 per cent share. In terms of services GSVA growth, Bihar is at the top and Uttar Pradesh at the bottom with 14.5 per cent and 7.0 per cent growth respectively in 2016-17.
Ministry of Defence
FOCinC ENC Reviews Operational Readiness of the Eastern Fleet
Vice Adm Rajesh Pendharkar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command reviewed the operational readiness of the Eastern Fleet at sea. He witnessed various surface, sub-surface, air and anti-air operations by ships of the Eastern Fleet under the command of Rear Adm Gurcharan Singh Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet. Unalerted exercises, successful weapon firings including anti-submarine weapon firings, as well as amphibious operations were the highlights of the readiness inspection.
The C-in-C ENC embarked and interacted with the crew of participating ships and expressed his satisfaction at the combat readiness of the Eastern Fleet to tackle maritime threats in all dimensions. He also appreciated the hard work, dedication and morale of the men and women onboard ships and encouraged them to continue excelling in their roles.
CGR/VM/JSN
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Cabinet
Cabinet approves MoU between India and United Kingdom and Northern Ireland regarding cooperation and the Exchange of Information for the Purposes of Combating International Criminality and Tackling Serious Organised Crime
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved signing of the Memorandum of Understanding  between India and United Kingdom and Northern Ireland regarding cooperation and Exchange of Information for the Purposes of Combating International Criminality and Tackling Serious Organised Crime.
India and U.K. already have an agreement concerning the investigation and prosecution of crime and the tracing, restraint and confiscation of the proceeds and instruments of crime  and terrorist funds, which was signed in 1995. Both the countries desire to further strengthen cooperation in fighting international criminality and serious organized crime. The MoU will reinforce the collaboration in the field of security that will be mutually beneficial.
Ministry of Earth Sciences
Mr. Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Ocean & Fisheries, holds talks with Earth Sciences Minister Shri Kiren Rijiju
The two sides discussed cooperation in Blue economy, Marine litter, Marine Bio-diversity, Marine Protected Areas  and Ocean and Fisheries dialogue
A bilateral meeting between the Union Minister of Earth Sciences, Shri Kiren Rijiju and Mr. Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Ocean & Fisheries, European Union  was held in New Delhi today, 26 July 2023.
The meeting was organised to discuss the common issues for both, viz., Blue economy, Marine litter, Marine Bio-diversity, Marine Protected Areas  and Ocean and Fisheries dialogue.
- India highlighted the G-20 activities related to Blue Economy held in the Diu summit and the ‘Ocean 20 Dialogue’.
- Blue Economy is an important agenda for both the parties and jointly wants to develop sustainable practices and conservation of ecosystems as priority.
- India requires the European Union  to provide technical support for Ocean Accounting Framework.
- India has supported the EU proposal for Marine Protected Areas  in Antarctic oceans which when approved by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources  will result in the conservation of 1% of Marine Areas.
- Marine pollution was highlighted as an important area of concern by Shri Rijiju. The EU Commissioner also mentioned that not only cleaning the oceans but preventing the plastics from their source was important and hoped that the legally binding agreement is achieved at the earliest.
- Marine Bio-diversity of areas Beyond National Jurisdiction : Ministry of Earth Sciences is engaged in inventorisation and documentation of marine biodiversity. It seeks collaboration with EU in using innovative and non-invasive approaches such as machine learning, artificial intelligence towards this endeavour.
Department of Space
Chandrayaan-2 precisely inserted in defined lunar orbit: ISRO Chairman
ISRO aims for Chandrayaan-2 landing at 1.55 AM on September 07, says Dr K. Sivan
The second moon mission of India, the Chandrayaan-2 has been precisely inserted in defined orbit. It reached in defined lunar orbit at 09.02 am today. This was stated by the Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation , Dr K. Sivan, while addressing a press conference after the Lunar Orbit Insertion of Chandrayaan-2, in Bengaluru, today. With this, Chandrayaan-2 has crossed a major landmark, he said.
Dr Sivan said that ISRO aims for successful landing at 1.55 AM on 7th September. The soft landing will be near lunar South Pole. He said that the next major event will be on 2nd September when the lander will be separated from the orbiter. The Chairman said that ISRO is confident about its landing mission. ISRO has done enough stimulations of soft landing, he added. Chandrayyan-2 will undergo four more manoeuvres. The first manoeuvre will be tomorrow, followed by subsequent manoeuvres on 28th August, 30th August and 1st September.
This is ISRO’s second moon mission after Chandrayaan-1 in the year 2008. Chandrayaan-2 was launched from Sriharikota on 22nd July this year. It carries an orbiter, ‘Vikram’ lander and ‘Pragyan’ rover.
For viewing the full press conference, kindly click the link below:
https://youtu.be/2K0AJXuqy3A
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Government sanctions Neeraj's request to train in Finland's Kuortane Olympic Training Centre ahead of Diamond League
India’s Olympic Gold Medallist Neeraj Chopra is set to switch his training base from Turkey and will fly out to Finland for the same on Thursday, May 26th.
Neeraj, who is currently training at Turkey’s Gloria Sports Arena, is scheduled to fly out on May 26th and would train in Finland’s Kuortane Olympic Training Centre till June 22nd. The Kuortane OTC offers Olympic-level indoor and outdoor facilities for athletes and is currently also the training base for Paralympics Gold Medalist Devendra Jhajharia.
From Kuortane Neeraj will then head out to Turku to participate in the Paavo Nurmi Games, followed by Kuortane Games in Kuortane and then Diamond League in Stockholm.
The Sports Authority of India  has also reached out to the Ministry of External Affairs  to ensure that Neeraj and his team do not face any issues during their stay in Finland and the MEA in their response has also assured SAI that the Indian Embassy in Helsinki would be available for any assistance if required.
The four-week  training camp has been sanctioned by the government’s Target Olympic Podium Scheme  and would cost the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports  Rs. 9.8 lakhs approximately.
The finance would be used towards expenditure for Neeraj and his coach Klaus Bartonietz’s travel, accommodation, training, local travel, and daily out-of-pocket allowance among other expenditures.
Ministry of Science & Technology
Tea & banana waste used to develop non-toxic activated carbon
A team of scientists have used tea and banana waste to prepare non-toxic activated carbon, which is useful for several purposes like industrial pollution control, water purification, food and beverage processing, and odour removal. The newly developed process avoids usage of any toxic agent for synthesizing activated carbon, thus making the product cost-effective as well as non-toxic.
The processing of tea generates a lot of waste, generally in the form of tea dust. This could be converted to useful substances. The structure of tea was favourable for conversion to high-quality activated carbon. However, conversion to activated carbon involves use of strong acid and bases, making the product toxic and hence unsuitable for most uses. So a non-toxic method of conversion was needed to overcome this challenge.
Dr N. C. Talukdar, Former Director, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology , Guwahati, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India and Dr Devasish Chowdhury, Associate Professor, used banana plant extract as an alternative activating agent for the preparation of activated carbon from tea wastes.
Oxygenated potassium compounds contained in the banana plant extract help in activating the carbon prepared from tea waste. An Indian patent has recently been granted for this.
The banana plant extract used in the process was prepared by traditional way and is known as Khar, which is an alkaline extract from the ashes of burnt dried banana peels. The most preferred banana for this is called ‘Bheem Kol’ in Assamese. Bheem Kol is an indigenous variety of bananas found only in Assam and parts of North East India. To make khar, first, the peel of the banana is dried and then burnt to make an ash out of it. The ash is then crushed and made into a fine powder. Then using a clean cotton cloth, water is filtered through the ash powder, and the final solution that we get is called khar. The natural khar which is extracted from banana is called ‘Kol Khar’ or ‘Kola Khar’. This extract was used as the activating agent.
IASST team explains, “The reason for the use of tea as a precursor for the synthesis of active carbon is that in tea structure, the carbon atoms are conjugated and having polyphenols bond. This makes the quality of activated carbon better compared to other carbon precursors.”
The main advantage of this process is that starting materials, as well as activating agents, are both waste materials. In the developed process use of any toxic activating agent  for synthesizing active carbon are avoided. Thus, this process is green for the first time plant materials have been used as an activating agent for the first time. This novel process of synthesizing of active carbon makes the product cost-effective as well as non-toxic.
Patent Details: A PROCESS FOR PREPARATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON FROM TEA WASTE, Patent number 377645
- Synthesis of Activated Carbon from Tea Waste
- Synthesis of Activating Agent from Banana Plant
 Dr. Manash Jyoti Deka, Dr. Devasish Chowdhury, Dr. N. C. Talukdar